


On Us

by Try2CatchMe



Series: Sanctuary 'verse [29]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, M/M, Trickster - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-27 02:26:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/657045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Try2CatchMe/pseuds/Try2CatchMe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Tell me Adam, do you share your brothers' habit of making bad decisions?"</p><p>After a beat, Adam answered honestly, "The past few months seem to indicate 'yes'."</p><p>The Trickster's smirk widened, showing just a flash of dangerous white teeth, "In that case, let's make a deal."</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Us

**Author's Note:**

> I DID IT! I WROTE THIS CHAPTER! IT WAS SO HARD TO WRITE, OMG, I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT THE CHARACTERIZATION!

Adam woke up on the floor, which he definitely wouldn’t have predicted when the day stared, but nevertheless was unsurprised by.

The room he was in was… fairly nice, actually. He was sprawled out on a stretch of hardwood, but most of the floor in the room, which looked to be some kind of lounge, was actually covered by a large area rug. The furniture in the room was made of some dark wood that looked _really_ expensive, there was a couch and an overstuffed armchair in front of a roaring fire that Adam was instantly wary of.

In fact, the only thing that didn’t look really nice in the room was the radiator he was handcuffed to.

Then there was the guy who’d put him in this situation in the first place. Adam had been trying to find a connection between the victims to find whoever had gotten them all and been talking to the neighborhood mailman. Next thing he knew, he was waking up on the floor.

He wasn’t sure if his questions had been too obvious or what, but his cover was definitely blown, especially if the way the Trickster (Matt, who was studying Anthropology and Folklore at his university, had called that one when Alfie had relayed the case to him) was flipping the silver knife from Adam’s boot around was anything to go by.

The Trickster was a normal-looking guy, which made sense, Adam supposed. He had wavy, brown hair, was shorter than Adam by a few inches, and had changed into jeans, a t-shirt, and a couple of layers while the vessel had been out, apparently.

“You know,” he said, in a completely casual tone, setting the knife down by the pistol from Adam’s waistband, “You’re kind of under armed for a Winchester. You didn’t even bring a stake. Not that it would have done anything.”

Oh shit.

Oh _fuck_.

Adam swallowed hard, “I’m not a Winchester.”

“Of course not. You just dress like them, drive around in an ancient car like them, stay in crappy motels like them, share a parent, hunt like them, hell, I’m pretty sure this pistol is Sam’s. Don’t quote me on that, though, he and Dean usually tried to kill me with a stake.”

Oh Adam was so, _so_ screwed.

“I’m not a hunter.”

“No?” The Trickster finally levered himself up off the couch, crossing around to crouch in front of Adam, eyes flashing gold, “Then why’re you here?”

“Information,” Adam replied, trying not to draw away from the man in front of him. He was _radiating_ power.

“Oh yeah? What makes you think I’d give you information hotshot? Why not ask your brother’s angel?”

He hesitated. This guy sounded like he was at odds with Sam and Dean and Cas or… had been. What were the chances he’d reveal this information to them? Probably low. Low enough to risk. Because the Trickster seemed to be toying with him so far, probably the only reason he hadn’t killed him outright was because he was curious about Sam and Dean’s kid brother. That, or he didn’t kill people that didn’t fit into his moral code as ‘acceptable people to kill’.

Still, it wasn’t like anyone else was lining up to give Adam info.

“There’s something going on with the angels.” That made the Trickster start to pay attention, for whatever reason, “A friend of mine, Samandriel, he’s on the run from them. He and Castiel, they’re supposed to be in the same garrison, but he didn’t go to Castiel for help. If Samandriel wouldn’t trust Cas, then neither will I. Samandriel has been missing for months, I’m trying to find him.”

The Trickster gave him a considering look, “You’re Michael’s vessel. Did Samandriel get you out of the Cage?”

How did he know that? “Yes.”

“Why are you trying to find him?”

There were a dozen answers Adam could give to that. Curiosity, obligation, friendship, debt… but what came out of his mouth was simply, “I love him.”

Oddly, the Trickster didn’t seem at all surprised by this answer. He _was_ , however, looking at Adam like he was a puzzle to be solved.

Adam ignored the urge to shift under the scrutiny. “What?”

“You know it’s funny,” the Trickster took a knee in front of him, an expression on his face that was not funny _at all_ and made Adam tug at the handcuffs keeping him bound to see how strong they were, “You say you love him, and you’re not lying. But there’s only a spark of love in you.”

Somehow, Adam wasn’t surprised that the Trickster could see inside him like that. In fact, he was starting to doubt this was a Trickster. He had a lot more tricks than Matt had mentioned. “Who are you?”

The Trickster ignored him, “But love isn’t a spark. Trust me, I know. It’s not even a flame, it’s a wildfire. And it hurts and it doesn’t distinguish what it needs to burn to keep it alive.”

“I… am not following you at all.”

“You’re feeling something you can’t be feeling,” The Trickster rolled up the sleeve on one of his arms to the elbow, “And, well, let’s just say I’ve been called curious. You might want to take a deep breath.”

That was all the warning Adam got before the Trickster grabbed a handful of his hair, wrenched his head back, and drove his arm _into_ the vessel’s abdomen.

Adam screamed and tried to arch away, but the hand in his hair kept him in place. It hurt, yes, but the pain was only partially physical. It felt like someone was reaching into his core and brushing against something vital and it _hurt_ like an invasion.

When it finally ended (and he was fairly certain it had lasted forever) the only thing keeping Adam from being sprawled out on the floor was the grip the Trickster had on his hair, but, after what had just happened, the pain barely registered in his mind.

"Ugh, you Winchesters always do everything above and beyond, don't you?" the Trickster complained before dropping him and taking a couple of steps back. "Especially when it comes to your defense mechanisms."

Adam had to gasp for air for a few seconds before having the breath to ask, "What are you talking about?"

"Michael patched you up, badly, before booting you out, right? Yeah, well when your angel hand-holder vanished on you, you took the Grace Michael gave you and tangled it up in your own soul to make a better barrier to your memories of Hell. Congrats, Baby Winchester, you've only been using about fifteen percent of your soul since then. Didn't you ever wonder why you were so calm?"

No. No he hadn't. Samandriel had mentioned that.

"Didn't you wonder why you weren't scared? Or maybe you just convinced yourself you were. Knew how you were supposed to feel and acted like you were out of habit." The Trickster crouched in front of him again. "You say you love the angel you're looking for. And you have some love in you, sure. But you're not feeling all of it, not even close."

The hand went to his chest this time, pressing down over his heart, and emotion crashed through him.

It was love. He knew what it felt like. But he hadn't felt, not really, for months now, and it was overwhelming.

Love was beautiful, but it _hurt_. Because love was scary. Part of it was joy at someone else's existence. But most of it was fear. Terror that something could happen to them, worry that they were hurt, fear they didn't feel the same.

And this love he was feeling, it was so purely about _Samandriel_. It rushed through him, warm, but cold, bringing a rush of adrenaline along for the ride, like spring air after a rainstorm. It was too much, too intense and he couldn't fight it back because the Trickster _wasn't letting him_ -

He sucked air down when the Trickster took his hand away and blinked back tears. The demigod had his head tilted at Adam, considering.

The Trickster hummed slightly, drumming his fingers against Adam's chest like he was mocking the too-fast beat of his heart. Then his lips curled up in a smirk that could not possibly lead to good things.

"Tell me Adam, do you share your brothers' habit of making bad decisions?"

After a beat, Adam answered honestly, "The past few months seem to indicate 'yes'."

The Trickster's smirk widened, showing just a flash of dangerous white teeth, "In that case, let's make a deal."

Adam didn't have to have personal experiences with deals for his throat to close up at the mention of them. That was how everything had started. Idiots making deals with demons.

"Are you a demon?"

"No."

Taking a deep breath, Adam asked, "What kind of deal?"

"I'll get your angel friend back for you. But first, I'm going to separate your soul and Michael's Grace. You'll feel everything, just the same as before. You'll still have all those memories of Hell chomping at the bit inside your head. And if Samandriel doesn't stick around, they'll overwhelm you."

Adam should have been questioning how the Trickster knew so much about angels and Grace, but instead he just asked, "And what's in it for you?"

The Trickster's eyes narrowed, and there was something going on behind them, something complex and secret that Adam daren't touch, "Maybe I just want to see what choice you'll make. This angel's already left you twice. You really trust you'll stick around this time?"

"Not really." Adam said honestly, even though he knew Samandriel wouldn't leave unless he felt like he had to. Because angels seemed to have a thing for disappearing. And Samandriel had to have known about how messed up Adam's soul was, but left it, maybe even helped it along so he'd be able to live without the angel. Samandriel honestly hadn't planned to come back.

"So that's a 'no'?"

"No it isn't." Because it was Samandriel. And he was on the run from everyone he knew. He didn't have anyone to turn to, or refused to turn to anyone, even though he needed the help. And Adam loved him, even though it hurt. And you helped the people you loved. You just did. He maybe didn't feel that right now, but he _knew_ it.

Tilting his head to one side, the Trickster pointed out, "You don't have any guarantees he'll stay with you."

"That's okay." Nothing was guaranteed anyway. And this was the closest he'd come so far. He could keep searching, but he'd still be knotted up inside. And now that he knew it, he'd think too much about it. If he wasn't going through the motions automatically, he wouldn't do it at all. And Samandriel needed help. Maybe Adam would be torn up inside by his own memories afterwards, but that was okay.

The look on the Trickster's face sort of made Adam worry that the creature looming over him had been reading his mind the whole time he'd been deciding this.

"What are you?" he asked, a little scared he already knew the answer.

In response, he received a look of resignation and anger.

And a snap of the fingers.


End file.
